The aim of this proposed anthropological research is to provide a description and interpretation of the natural history of the menopausal experiences of women in two different cultures, each of which is unlike Western society in significant ways. Most striking is the absence of hormone therapy for the physical and emotional changes said to occur among women. Also absent is the search for perpetual youth which characterizes women in the "advanced" societies. The research aims not only to provide new data but also to develop hypotheses for further investigations regarding menopause, and new insights into the study of women and aging. The research will document the existence of alternative realities of menopause in their natural terms, and thus will provide a topical ethnography of menopause. The groups selected are peasant Mayan women in Yucatan, and peasant women in Greece. Women in these cultures have clearly defined roles, and important socially defined statuses at every stage of their lives. Moreover, they have been the main healers of any female related disorders, for many generations. The method of data collection will procede in two stages over one year periods: 1) systematic participant observation, with informal interviewing of key informants; 2) life history interviews, using a guided-instrument format, with 105 selected women aged 40 and above in each culture. The findings will be ethnographic and descriptive. The physical manifestations as well as the significance and meaning attached to menopause will be compared between the two cultures studied, and also menopause in these cultures will be contrasted with the phenomenon as experienced by women in Western society.